The Rising Cafe

There are times when we need a good red wine. Whether it is for a dinner or for quiet evening at home. Red wines are awesome! However, not all red wines are made equal. Some can be just horrible and have earned the epitome by some as “cheap red wine” or wines that should not be drunk. But, there are some good red wines out there that are cheaply priced but are great. I consider those to be rare gems that I truly enjoy discovering. I am going to share some these gems today.

Falesco Vitiano Rosso 2008

This is a delightful young Italian red wine. The aromas in this wine are luscious and explodes on the tongue. This deep red wine has aromas of ripe black cherries, licorice, and tobacco leaf. This  wine goes well with various dishes, meat and pasta especially. This  red wine was rated 89 points by The Wine Advocate. This is definitely a good red wine that is great for any mood and setting and it is under . More here.

Bouchard Aine & Fils Bourgogne Pinot Noir 2007

Leading barcode and labelling company, AM Labels develops bespoke label applicator for Wine Industry

Company: Kingsland Wines & Spirits was established 40 years ago and has since grown to become the largest independent bottler of wine and spirits in the UK. Based in Manchester they provide a complete solution from vine to shelf.

Challenge: Kingsland Wines & Spirits (Kingsland) already had a standard application to apply labels to wine boxes that needed modification to ensure that their labelling lines were running more efficiently. Kingsland wanted to apply labels to the front of their wine boxes containing 6 or 12 wine bottles. The previously installed label applicator had never run to their requirements and frequently failed to apply the labels often skipping numerous wine boxes.

Solution: AM Labels provided a customised label applicator to apply labels to wine boxes, the label applicator was initially supplied as a prototype and under went rigorous testing for one year to get the best result. After this testing AM Labels installed a further four label applicators to automate the rest of Kingsland’s labelling lines. The solution solved problems with previous applicators that failed to apply the labels to wine boxes properly.

Tony Mariani (MD of AM Labels) Commented: “We aim to build good partnerships with our customers, we became part of the Kingsland team… we modified the label applicator to fit their purposes and when they took the further four applicators we brought those machines up to the same standard and also supplied Zebra Z4M printers and rewinders – a complete package for their business requirements”

Company Benefits: With excellent communication and collaboration from both companies the benefits were clear to see. An increase in productivity was achieved as production lines were faster and more efficient. From this less time was spent double checking that the labels had been applied properly, the four extra labelling lines saved labour costs as less staff were needed. There was also a dramatic reduction on the costs associated with wasted labels.

Nigel Smith Company Engineering Manager at Kingsland commented on three main advantages of the new system:
1) The old method of printing cartons required 4 people across the shift patterns due to the slow manual rate at which the cartons were printed. Under the new system the printing of labels is managed by just one person as the printers can be programmed and left to run. This has allowed for three employees to be re-assigned elsewhere.
2) Under the old system of carton printing, an automatic additional 5% of cartons were printed to allow for wastage. As the information on each carton is specific to the run, any unused cartons can not be retained for future runs. Hence if the cartons are not used they still have to be scrapped. With the new application carton wastage has been reduced as all unused cartons are returned to Stores at the end of the run.
3) Taking into account the consumables that are required under each system e.g. ink and stereos compared to labels, ribbons and print heads the saving using the online label application is £20,000 per year based on 3.25 million labels.

AM Labels can also supply semi automatic or automatic bottle labellers for labelling wine bottles.

Well here’s an idea that will lift your spirits. Wine, spirits, and yes even beer charity auctions are becoming one of the hottest trends emerging in the charity auction industry. I have written about fundraising auctions in the past and how they can be a wonderful and lucrative addition to an auctioneer’s dossier of services that are offered to their clients. If you perform fundraising auctions, then this is definitely an area that you will want to explore.

Charity wine auctions are becoming so popular and trendy that they are literally creating their own specific niche in the special events fundraising niche. The good news regarding charity auctioneer job security is that wine consumption is at an “all time high” according to the Wine Spectator magazine, and as such, the demand for wine is increasing, especially in benefit auctions.

There is balance in everything, and for every upside, there is also a downside. The upside in charity wine, auctions is the obvious financial opportunities created for charity auctioneers, but the converse is that true wine appreciation requires a tremendous amount of knowledge (i.e. pronunciation of the name, grape varietals, taste description, terroir, appellation, vintage, and dollar value of the wine being sold, etc.). If some of this terminology threw you, then needless to say, you have a lot of study ahead of you.

Making your own delicious wines & spirits is not only relaxing & rewarding but brings with it a status of prestige and creativity – there is nothing quite like the warm feeling of watching family & friends enjoying the wine/liquor that you have created yourself, seeing them reach for that last bottle and help themselves to another delightful glass of your creation. 

But making wine from home is hard right? Far from it – in fact, when the simple steps in this eBook are applied, making your own delicious wines that your house-guests just can’t get enough of is absurdly simple. Not only is it so easy that even a child could do it (which of course is not recommended), but it is also very cheap requiring no special equipment or knowledge other than what’s in this book. You could get started within the next 5 minutes!

The secret, simple do-at-home procedures that you will discover have been used for years and proven to consistentlyproduce outstanding wines & spirits – all done from home with the same ingredients and equipment that almost every kitchen already has. 

In its Snapshot Trends Report 2010, released this week, the IWSR has noted that wine and spirits consumers in affected markets have returned to local products, based partly on price comparison and partly on emotion.

“One consequence has been an upgrading of local products in many markets,” the report notes. “Better quality, better packaging, higher prices. As economies recover, these companies will be well-placed for future growth.”

The IWSR highlighted local wines as performing well in their domestic markets at the expense of imported brands, due not only to lower prices but also to “improved quality and increased awareness of this quality”.

The report also notes that some of the most successful brands of the last two years have been “the ‘new standard’ brands with a premium twist”, which have been sold at a marginally higher price than some of the biggest standard brands. “Some of these have enjoyed spectacular success and will have a global impact down the line,” the IWSR said.

Further details of this research report available in just-drinks’ research store, ‘The IWSR Snapshot Trend Report 2010′ are available by following this link: http://www.just-drinks.com/market-research/the-iwsr-snapshot-trend-report-2010_id93198.aspx?lk=pr

A key point to add at this stage is the difference between organically grown grapes – fruit from vineyards grown without the use of industrial fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides and pesticides – and wines made without synthetic preservative additives.

Organic Vineyards – Where it all begins!

An organic vineyard is one where grapes are grown without chemical fertilizers, weed killers, insecticides, or other synthetic chemicals. This prevents damage to soil and ensures that no chemicals end up in the wine as residue. Organic farmers aim to maintain healthy, biologically active soil whose fertility is provided by plants that fix nitrogen from the air. In the vineyard it means planting cover crops between the avenues of the vines instead of applying herbicide. Naturally occurring plant or mineral extracts leave no residue in the soil, and weeds are kept down with the use of mechanical and hand hoes. Biodiversity is promoted through the plants, which help regulate the vineyard soil by attracting beneficial insects, spiders and predatory mites.

The Role of Certification and the Organic Market